The present invention relates to turbine engine support arm, a turbine engine support assembly and a method of forming a turbine engine support arm.
In jet engines it is essential that the integrity and stability of the turbine be maintained. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an outer rear fan case 10, an intermediate core fairing 12 and a turbine inner case or intercase 14.
The outer case 10 and the core fairing 12 are often connected by upper and lower splitters 16 and 18. The splitters are elongate in the direction of intended air flow and have aerodynamically shaped ends to reduce the drag of the splitters. Vents 20 are provided in the core fairing 12.
Should a turbine blade become loose then it is essential that the engine be held in place despite its out of balance state.
To assist in maintaining the engine in place the intercase 14 is indirectly connected to the outer case 10 by aligned inner supports 22 with aligned outer supports 24 connecting the core fairing 12 to the fan case 10. Each support 22 and 24 make up a single arm that is pivotally connected at one end to the inner case 14.
The supports 22 and 24 are shown schematically in FIG. 1. They each comprise a titanium assembly made up of a number of different parts. When the engine is being assembled, the supports are connected between the intercase 14 and core fairing 12 and the core fairing 12 and the fan case 10. To assist in assembling the supports, the fairing is divided into at least four parts in a circumferential direction which can be assembled after the supports 22 and 24 are in position to surround the supports in the region of the fairing.
Each support 22 and 24 is complicated to fabricate because of the number of different parts that have to be assembled. In addition each support 22 and 24 must be connected together to form the arm. Then the arms have to be individually connected to the outer case and the inner case. Furthermore, the parts take time and require precision machining. In addition because of the many parts that have to be assembled the greater the risk that assembly is defective in some way and the greater the maintenance costs and the greater the risk of parts becoming loose during use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,682, GB 2 188 987, WO 2005/012696, GB 712783, GB 728670 and DE 19852603 relate to turbine engines.